List of references to Kamen Rider in popular culture
As a popular metaseries, the Kamen Rider Series has had several parodies and references in pop culture, especially their poses. Anime/Manga Arachnid The action manga features the character Hibiki who based his fighting style on the TV show "Kahen Rider" and later improved it by further observation of the series. Binbō-gami ga! In chapter 46 of Binbō-gami ga!, there is a parody of the preludes of Kamen Rider OOO, which usually happen to tell us what happen in previous episodes. Bleach The character Mashiro Kuna's Hollow form gives her a mask with a red scarf, she also uses a kicking based fighting style that gives her a direct reference to early Showa Era Kamen Riders. Cafe Detective Club Miyo Hatoyama is a fan of Tokusatsu, especially Kamen Rider usually doing the associated poses. Change 123 *The manga features a television series known as Kamen Raider, which the main male character, Teruharu Kosukegawa is a huge fan of. Detective Conan/Case Closed *A TV show called Kamen Yaiba appears in the franchise where it watched by the Boy Detectives. Digimon *The anime, Digimon Tamers featured a Digimon named Justimon, whose appearance and abilities are based on Riderman. *The Digimon Silphymon's belt is based on Kamen Rider #1's Typhoon *The design of the Digimon Stingmon was inspired by Kamen Rider #1. *''Digimon Xros Wars'' had posters of Tokusatsu characters in Taiki's room that were based on Kamen Riders Double, OOO, and Fourze whenever they were shown. It should be noted that Riku Sanjo also wrote for Xros Wars, along with W''. Justimon.jpg|Justimon Silphymon.jpg|Silphymon Stingmon_toei.jpg|Stingmon Doraemon During the episode '''Experimental Dream Scheme', using one of Doraemon's gadgets, Nobita enters a dream. In one of those dreams, during the fight with Big Spicy Mamma, Nobita executes a transformation by announcing "transform". He called himself Kamen Nobita (Masked Noby in the dub). Dragonball *In the Dragonball metaseries, the Ginyu Force and the Great Saiyaman feature similarities to the Showa Era Kamen Riders and Super Sentai teams. Franken Fran *The Sentinels from the manga Franken Fran are based off the early Showa Era Kamen Riders including possessing similar costumes and techniques and the four main ones are an obvious homage to #1, #2, V3, and Riderman. Future Diary *The 12th diary owner, Yomotsu Hirasaka dons a costume and poses similar to a Kamen Rider and even has a team of brainwashed victims that functions similar to a Super Sentai team. Gintama *In episode 65 of Gintama, Sougo Okita uses Ryutaros' catchphrase and his eyes flash purple while battling Kagura. **Episode 89 of Gintama also features this visual gag. Kenichi Suzumura, who voices Ryutaros in Den-O, voices Okita in Gintama. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san *This series contains countless references to all of Kamen Rider, as the title character Nyarlathotep/Nyaruko is an alien who is obsessed with Earth's popular culture (especially anime and tokusatsu) and will use quotes, special attacks, and poses from her favorite shows as part of her everyday life. She is also given to occasionally performing Kamen Rider poses apropos of nothing, as seen when she performs Takeshi Hongo's pose upon first meeting Mahiro Yasaka, the series' male lead (making this the very first pop culture reference in the entire series). The series' original creator Manta Aisora is himself a huge Kamen Rider fan, at one point joking that the story was getting so convoluted that by the tenth volume, Nyaruko would have to destroy and re-create the universe just so everything made sense again. *The covers of the original light novels (except for the first) each depict Nyaruko performing a different Kamen Rider's transformation pose; in order, these are the poses of Takeshi Hongo, Hayato Ichimonji, Shiro Kazami, Shoichi Tsugami, Daisuke Yamamoto, Joji Yuki, Ryo Murasame, Kotaro Minami, Kazuya Oki, and Kazuma Kenzaki. In an added reference, the standard release of Volume 9 has Nyaruko in a black costume performing Kamen Rider Black's pose, while the limited edition has her in a white costume performing Kamen Rider Black RX's pose; combining the two covers yields a reference to Kamen Rider Decade episode "Black × Black RX", where two parallel universe versions of Kotaro Minami join forces. These poses are repeated in the opening for the second TV season Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W, where all the members of the primary cast perform them. *Nyaruko's combat form, dubbed her Full Force Form, is (as stated directly by Aisora) primarily a reference to KnightBlazer, a character from the video game Wild Arms 2, but with many Kamen Rider references added on. An official listing of Nyaruko's abilities in the novels mentions Clock Up, a dimension-cleaving mechanical sword (OOO's Medajalibur), an orange rocket-shaped propulsion unit that fits over her arm (Fourze's Rocket Module ), and the ability to change people into weapons or vehicles. In particular, her pet shantak-bird Shanta-kun can change into the Machine Shantaker, which possesses a Slider Mode. *Additionally, Nyaruko's favorite television show on Earth is Kurogane no Striver (Iron Striver), a pastice of the Kamen Rider franchise borrowing elements from several different series. In particular, the main character resembles Tsukasa Kadoya (though he wears clothing reminescent of Philip) and transforms using a card-reading belt. A sequence from the show, seen in the direct-to-DVD episode "How to Defeat a Kind Enemy", even has Striver delivering one of Tsukasa's more famous quotes: "Bring it on! I'll destroy everything!" **A more comprehensive listing of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san's references to the Kamen Rider franchise (as well as all the other pop culture references it makes) can be found on the NyaruReferences blog. Hayate the Combat Butler Episode 16 of featured "guest" appearances of the DenGasher Sword, Rod, and Ax Modes as well as cameo appearances of the Owner, Momotaros, and Hana on a train very similar to the DenLiner Gouka. DenGasher Sword as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg DenGasher Ax as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Denliner as seen in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Hana cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Momotaros cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Owner cameo appearance in Hayate no Gotoku Season 1 Episode 16.jpg Henchin Pokoider Henchin Pokoider is a parody gag manga by Go Nagai, a former assistant to Shotaro Ishinomori, with the title character based on the original Kamen Riders and their transformation sequences. High School DxD The anime version of this series features an Adult Video character called Kaben Rider Pinky who is played by Momo Momozono. Invaders of the Rokujyouma In episode 7 of Invaders of the Rokujyouma, there is a television show called "Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact", which has some reference to Kamen Rider Stronger and Kamen Rider Kabuto series. The logo of the show is similar to the logo of Kamen Rider Kabuto. The main protagonist of the show, Yamato Beetle, greatly resembles Kamen Rider Stronger with his body design similar to ZECT Riders. Yamato Beetle's ally, Atlas, Caucasus and Hercules greatly resembles to movie-exclusive Kabutech Riders from Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love. Rokujyouma Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact logo.jpg|The Rhinoceros Man, 2nd Impact's logo Rokujyouma Yamato Beetle.jpg|Yamato Beetle Rokujyouma Yamato Ally.jpg|Atlas, Caucasus and Hercules Kagerou Project/Mekakucity Actors In the 17th song of Vocaloid series song Kagerou Project and its 9th episode of its anime adaptation, Mekakucity Actors (lit. Blindfold City Actors), , while trying to cheer up her adopted siblings for having red eyes, Ayano said that red is the color of heroes which she demonstrates by taking a red scarf and posing while comparing it to Kamen Rider 1's pose. Later, while playing with her adopted siblings and her dad, Ayano still wore her red scarf and pretended herself to be the Graffiti Ranger, a parody of the heroes. Hence, due her mindset that red is the color of heroes, this had made her wearing a red muffler in most of her appearance. Kill la Kill The living uniform Senketsu has glowing red veins when activated and even glows similar to Kamen Rider Faiz. Senketsu Kisaragi seems to even reference Faiz Blaster form. Lucky Star *Two of the live action endings portray Minoru Shiraishi with a Den-O belt while mimicking Kamen Rider #1's pose while giving out a transformation phrase. *Konata's father when utilizing static electricity calls out "Stronger". Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The summon Garyu is given a scarf and fighting style similar to early Kamen Riders including a Rider Kick. Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun In episode 7 of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, one of figures resembles Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form with wing and blue visor color similar to Den-O Super Climax and Wing Forms respectively. The muscular armor is also a reference to Kamen Rider Kuuga Mighty Form. Medaka Box Medaka Box makes a direct mention of Kamen Rider in episode 8. Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan *In a chapter of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, there was a man who wore a mask that was very similar to Kamen Rider Double's who called himself "Nurae Rider". One-Punch Man *A superhero character named "Mumen Rider" wears a costume that parodies Kamen Rider 1 & 2. Pokémon *An episode of Pokémon Best Wishes featured an episode where characters played the role of a super hero and super villain in a manner very similar to Kamen Rider. There are also two Pokémon that take inspiration from Kamen Rider, Pawniard and it's evolved form Bisharp. pawniard.jpg|Pokemon #624: Pawniard bisharp.jpg|Pokemon #625: Bisharp Powerpuff Girls Z *The Powerpuff Girls have belts that are used to access their powers similar to those of Kamen Riders. Pretty Cure *In Hearth Catch Pretty Cure, Tsubomi's grandmother's maiden name was Kaoruko Godai. While this is likely just coincidence, some viral fan art shows Tsubomi's grandma with the Arcle belt. *In Smile Pretty Cure, Kise Yayoi/Cure Peace is a fan of tokusastu shows and superheroes. She dreams of becoming a manga artist like Shotaro Ishinomori so she can create her own superheroes. In episode 5, while trying to come up with a roll call phrase, she references Kamen Rider Decade by saying "We're just passing through superheroes!" **Her fangirl status has made her a viral art meme/unofficial mascot of Tokusatsu. As many artists on sites such as Pixiv draw her and her teammates with different Kamen Rider and Super Sentai gear/costumes or meeting certain superheroes. *Dokidoki! Precure contains a couple references to Kamen Rider with the first episode featuring Mana Aida actually using Kamen Rider #1's pose and says "Henshin!" before she becomes Cure Heart. **Cure Sword's identity Makoto Kenzaki has the same surname (and kanji) as Kamen Rider Blade's idenity Kazuma Kenzaki who also represents the spade and sword motif. **The Pretty Cure's transformation spells out LOVE in a manner similar to Kamen Rider Beast's transformation, with Cure Heart being heavily featured in fan art in the same manner as Beast. **Cure Heart later obtains a new finishing move that uses a similar technique to Kamen Rider Chalice. *In episode 14 of Happiness Charge Precure, Team Happiness Charge chaperones for a children's clam festival and one of the kids named Takuma is pretending to be a superhero called "Kamen Takuma", a parody of Kamen Rider, with his mask borrowing the style of Kamen Rider 1 with Stronger's color scheme, and a belt that looks like a fusion of the Typhoon and Black's King Stone. Megumi plays with Takuma, who even shouts "Toh!", like the Showa Era Riders and while Takuma searches for clams, he says "Lock ON!". Samurai Flamenco Samurai Flamenco features several references and parodies to tokusatsu, Kamen Rider being the most prominent shown by references and the Typhoon Belt being shown in the protagonist Masayoshi Hazama's closet and his costume being slightly redesigned to resemble the costume worn by Kamen Rider 1 and 2. One of the episodes also features a scene where Masayoshi imagines himself in an homage to the ending of Kamen Rider Black. Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei The prologue to Zoku Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei quickly turns into a parody of Kamen Rider after its introduction about cult stories. Sgt. Frog The comedy anime features several episodes that make reference to some of the more notable Kamen Rider Series including: Kamen Rider Kabuto, Den-O, and W. *The spin-off magazine Keroro Land also features a character based on the early Kamen Riders named Foruru. *Part A of episode 169 of Sgt. Frog was titled "Urere: King of the Trains" and featured the Keroro Platoon piloting various frog-themed bullet trains similar to the control of the DenLiner. The episode featured phrases such as , , and spoken by Urere (Urere replaced Momotaros's boastful with the more humble ). Urere is also voiced by Toshihiko Seki, who also provides the voice of Momotaros in Den-O. The phrase is spoken by Giroro, as these are the lyrics of "Climax Jump", the opening theme song of Den-O. Keroro also re-enacts the opening sequence of Den-O on his . *Episode 295-A of Sgt. Frog titled "Keroro, The Two of Us are One Kerororm" features the members of the Keroro Platoon finding an artifact that allows two of them to combine into a single Keroro, each with new powers. The episode title is based on Kamen Rider W's catchphrase and the resultant transformation resembles that of Kamen Rider Double (the characters appear to be split down the middle, with one side being, for example, Keroro and the other Tamama). *Episode 327-B of Sgt. Frog titled "Keroro, Invasion in a Blink!" features the members of the Keroro Platoon trying to invade Earth in Clock-Up mode. Shinryaku! Ika Musume A popular television series called Nohmen Rider appears regularly in series. Terra Formars Thien from the BUGSII crew gained the abilities of a locust giving him powerful leg strength allowing kicking abilities that can easily destroy enemies which along with his serious yet compassionate personality makes him similar to early Showa Era Kamen Riders. The Arrival of the Yellow Dragon *A chapter in The Arrival of the Yellow Dragon features one of the protagonists' Kimidori is seen doing a pose and wearing a belt and scarf similar to Kamen Rider #1. Tokyo Pig *''Tokyo Pig'' had an episode that featured a character that resembled a Kamen Rider that was brought to life through the main character's diary. Yu-Gi-Oh *The metaseries, Yu-Gi-Oh! featured several references to the Kamen Rider Series including the Masked HEROs that appeared in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga and the Inzektor cards that drew inspiration from Kamen Rider Kabuto. Masked Hero Acid.jpg|Masked HERO Acid Masked HERO Dark Law.png|Masked HERO Dark Law Masked Hero Dian.jpg|Masked HERO Dian Masked Hero Goka.jpg|Masked HERO Goka Masked HERO Kamikaze.png|Masked HERO Kamikaze Masked HERO Koga.png|Masked HERO Koga Masked Hero Vapor.jpg|Masked HERO Vapor Contrast HERO Chaos.png|Contrast HERO Chaos Inzektor Ant.jpg|Inzektor Ant Inzektor Centipede.png|Inzektor Centipede Inzektor Dragonfly.jpg|Inzektor Dragonfly Inzektor Earwig.png|Inzektor Earwig Inzektor Firefly.jpg|Inzektor Firefly Inzektor Giga-Cricket.png|Inzektor Giga-Cricket Inzektor Giga-Mantis.jpg|Inzektor Giga-Mantis Inzektor Giga-Weevil.png|Inzektor Giga-Weevil Inzektor Hopper.jpg|Inzektor Hopper Inzektor Hornet.jpg|Inzektor Hornet Inzektor Ladybug.png|Inzektor Ladybug Inzektor Exa-Beetle.jpg|Inzektor Exa-Beetle Inzektor Exa-Stag.png|Inzektor Exa-Stag Cartoons Teen Titans *The villain Killer Moth resembles a mix between a Kamen Rider as well as the Orphnoch King. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series) *In the fourth episode "New Friend, Old Enemy", Michealangelo performs his "Secret Kata". Among the movements of the kata was Kamen Rider V3's henshin pose. *In the third episode of the second season, "Follow the Leader", Karai uses Foot Ninja Bots to attack the Turtles. When they attack they exclaim "Yii!" or "EEE!" in a manner similar to the Shocker Combatmen. Comic Books Batman Incorporated *According to artist Chris Burnham, Mr. Unknown, the Batman of Tokyo, had his most recent costume visually inspired by both Kamen Rider 1 and Battle Kenya from Battle Fever J. Ninja High School *Sammi Kondo assumes the alter ego of Ramen Rider, which disguises her gender partly because of a bet made with her father. Live-action TV How I Met Your Mother Figurines of Kamen Riders #1 and V3 can be seen in the background during the episode "Mosbius Designs". Super Sentai There has also been a few shout-outs to the Kamen Rider Series in its sister tokusatsu franchise, depsite the fact that the two series have only officially crossed-over on several occasions, most recently in Kamen Rider Taisen. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger *In episode 6, The Most Important Thing, Komaki Kasugai is seen using a credit card with the letters "CJX". This is an acronym for CycloneJokerXtreme, the final form of Kamen Rider Double. In addition to that, the lower right corner of the card features "CJX" on a green-white-black bar, the bar is also a reference to CycloneJokerXtreme, whose colors are green and black on the sides, and white on the middle. *The combined Go-On Wings form created by Gai Ikari/Gokai Silver is reminiscent of the many forms of Kamen Rider Double. Specifically the LunaMetal form due to the colors used (gold and silver). When Gai first assumes this form in episode 19, Armor of the 15 Warriors, he calls it "a two-in-one Go-On Wing" just as Double is described as "a two-in-one Kamen Rider." Tomica Hero Rescue Force *In Episode 16, R3 and R4 perform the Kajibano Friendship Power Kick on a pair of Axtos grunts. The kick attack resembles the Rider Double Kick Kamen 1 and 2 used in the original series. *In episode 18, R5's debut episode, Captain Ishiguro behaved mush like a Showa Era Kamen Rider in some his mannerisms. This included shouting "Toh!" when he jumped and shouting his attacks (Ex. "Rescue Punch!") **This in-joke is carried over to the next episode when one of the villain commanders named San says that R5 "Reminds him of the heroes of a previous generation". **Ironically, 3 years later Hiroaki Iwanaga, Captain Ishiguro's actor, would become a Kamen Rider himself in Kamen Rider OOO by playing Akira Date Voicelugger is a Japanese tokusatsu that aired from January 12 to March 30, 1999. It was the last production by Shotaro Ishinomori, released posthumously, who intended for the series to be serious, while it was originally written to be a parody of older tokusatsu programs. Protagonist Akiko Homura/Voicelugger Ruby is a fan of tokusatsu series of the 1970s, particularly ''Kamen Rider. Others The Aquabats Tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman have been cited as influences of The Aquabats. Their promotional video The Aquabats in Color! in particular features several homages to Kamen Rider as well as stock footage from Ultraman and Kamen Rider, such as a brief appearance of Shocker kaijin Mantis Man. Aquabat Cyclone.jpg|The Aquabats arrive on motorcycles not unlike Kamen Rider on his Cyclone Bat Commander Rider.jpg|Each Aquabat receives their own shot mirroring the title shot of Kamen Rider Aquabat Typhoon.jpg|The Aquabat's belt flashes, reminiscent of Kamen Rider's henshin Aquabat Riders fight Combatmen.jpg|With Rider-esqe costumes, the Aquabats fight combatmen The Mauler.jpg|A 'masked marauder' appears, wearing a lucha libre wrestling mask like those of the Shocker Grunts Video Games Amagami *Sae Nakata is a fan of the TV show Inago Mask. *Ai Nanasaki wears a belt that places a blue grasshopper on in references to the Hopper Riders from Kamen Rider Kabuto. The TV version also includes a voice similar to the Zecter as well as a Smart Brain-like logo. Animal Crossing *KK Slider's song "Go K.K. Rider!" is a reference to the Kamen Rider franchise, along with the picture of KK Slider on a bike similar to Kamen Rider #1's Rider Machine. Castlevania *The Kicker Skeleton, first introduced in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, is an enemy designed as an overall homage to the Kamen Rider franchise. An animate skeleton with a red scarf, it attacks by performing a diving kick, and when defeated its Ability Soul allows Soma Cruz to likewise perform a mid-air jump kick. The skeleton can also drop one of two items when defeated: its Red Scarf, or more rarely the Ancient Belt, which is modeled off of the Double Riders' Typhoon belt. Disgaea *Disgaea 2 features a character called Adell who uses a couple of techniques reminiscent of various Rider Kicks, his necktie also resembles the traditional scarf. *Disgaea 4 features has Vulcan perform a technique similar to the Tatoba Kick where medals drop after the target is hit. *Disgaea: Dimension 2 features an attack called the Space Galaxy Kick that plays out similar to Kamen Rider Fourze's Rider Kick. Hyperdimension Neptunia *Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia has a quote in which she says "From the start, I'm always at a climax!" This is a nod to Momotaros, as it is the Imagin's pre-battle catchphrase. She also has a scarf, kicking techniques, as well as the iconic poses. King of Fighters *Leona's Rebel Spark is based on Black RX's Revolcrash. *May Lee from King of Fighters, specifically her Hero Mode pays homage to the early Kamen Riders. Street Fighter *The character, Skullomania in Street Fighter EX was inspired by Kamen Riders including it's inspiration Skull Man. Super Robot Wars *The third generation Dynamic General Guardian robots RaiOh and DaiRaiOh are obvious homages to early Kamen Riders possessing scarves as well kicking based fighting styles. *When Excellen Browning uses the Gespenst MK II Type-S' Gespenst Kick attack in PS2 game, Super Robot Wars: Original Generations, one of her dialogue includes "Ges-chan jump! Ges-chan kick!", which imitating the chorus of Kamen Rider's opening song, Let's Go!! Rider Kick. Viewtiful Joe *Characters in Viewtiful Joe have been influenced by both comic book superheroes and tokusatsu characters, including Kamen Rider. Additionally, the transformation sequences reference Kamen Rider's, though some of the characters say "Henshin-A-Go-Go" or some variant of that phrase instead of just "Henshin". Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman *Not only this game have been influenced by both superheroes and tokusatsu characters, the enemies "Goon" in this game are the Shocker Combatmen from Kamen Rider. They are the weakest enemies in the game and they are used as a substitute for a boss that has been defeated, using similar equipment from that boss. Category:Kamen Rider Series Category:Kamen Rider Other Media Category:Content